Nicklaus O'Leary (born August 31, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning consensus All-American honors in 2014. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.
 O'Leary with the Buffalo Bills in 2015 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | August 31, 1992 North Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 252 lb (114 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | William T. Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) | ||||||||
| College: | Florida State (2011–2014) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2015 / round: 6 / pick: 194 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Early years
Nicklaus O'Leary is one of five children of Bill and Nan (Nicklaus) O'Leary.[1][2] He attended Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he played football and lacrosse.[1] He won state titles in both football and lacrosse. As a senior, he had 51 receptions for 875 yards and 12 touchdowns.[3] Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the top-ranked tight end recruit in his class.[4]
College career
As a true freshman in 2011, O'Leary played in all 13 games with two starts. He finished the season with 12 receptions for 164 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore in 2012, he started 11 of 13 games, recording 21 receptions for 252 yards and three touchdowns. As a junior in 2013, he was a John Mackey Award finalist after recording 33 receptions for 557 yards with seven touchdowns.[5] After considering entering the 2014 NFL draft, O'Leary returned to Florida State for his senior season.[6] During his senior season, he set Florida State's record for career receptions for a tight end.[7] He again was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, this time winning it.[8] He was also named a consensus All-American.[9] O'Leary finished the season with 48 receptions for 618 yards and six touchdowns.[10] For his career, O'Leary had 114 receptions for 1,591 yards and 17 touchdowns.
College statistics
| Season | Team | GP | Receiving | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yds | TD | |||
| 2011 | Florida State | 13 | 12 | 164 | 1 |
| 2012 | Florida State | 13 | 21 | 252 | 3 |
| 2013 | Florida State | 12 | 33 | 557 | 7 |
| 2014 | Florida State | 13 | 48 | 618 | 6 |
| Totals | 51 | 114 | 1,591 | 17 | |
Professional career
Buffalo Bills
O'Leary was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round (194th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft.[11]
On September 8, 2015, the Bills cut O'Leary and re-signed him to the practice squad two days later.[12] On December 8, 2015, he was promoted to the active roster after Matthew Mulligan was cut.[13]
On November 12, 2017, in a 47–10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, he caught his first career touchdown, a seven-yard pass from quarterback Nathan Peterman.[14]
On September 1, 2018, O'Leary was released by the Bills.[15]
Miami Dolphins
On September 20, 2018, O'Leary was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad.[16] He was promoted to the active roster on October 5, 2018.[17] He scored his first touchdown with the Dolphins in Week 6 against the Bears on a five-yard pass from Brock Osweiler.[18] On December 1, 2018, O'Leary signed a one-year contract extension with the Dolphins through the 2019 season.[19]
On October 29, 2019, O’Leary was released by the Dolphins.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On November 18, 2019, O'Leary was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.[20]
Las Vegas Raiders
On April 6, 2020, O'Leary was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders.[21] He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on May 28, 2020.[22] On June 23, 2020, it was revealed that O'Leary underwent a heart procedure because there was a 100% blockage in one artery adjacent with the heart. Some sources surfaced that O'Leary was retiring from football, but O'Leary still intended to play in 2021, regardless of his recent procedure.[23]
NFL career statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | R/G | Y/G | ||
| 2015 | BUF | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 37 | 37.0 | 37 | 0 | 0.3 | 9.3 |
| 2016 | BUF | 16 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 114 | 12.7 | 28 | 0 | 0.6 | 7.1 |
| 2017 | BUF | 15 | 5 | 32 | 22 | 322 | 14.6 | 32 | 2 | 1.5 | 21.5 |
| 2018 | MIA | 12 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 86 | 10.8 | 19 | 1 | 0.7 | 10.2 |
| 2019 | MIA | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 19 | 0 | 0.6 | 5.3 |
| JAX | 5 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 72 | 8.0 | 15 | 1 | 1.8 | 14.4 | |
| Career | 59 | 24 | 77 | 53 | 668 | 12.6 | 37 | 4 | 0.8 | 11.3 | |
Personal life
O'Leary's maternal grandfather is golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.[24][25] Nick's father, Bill, was a highly recruited tight end who played at the University of Georgia, and his mother, Nan, played volleyball at Georgia.[26]
References
- ^ a b Making his own name: Nick O'Leary _ Jack Nicklaus' grandson _ is the nation's top TE recruit
- ^ "The Nicklaus-Sarasota O'Leary connection | October 19, 2012 | Mark Cardon | HT Golf". Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
- ^ Schad, Joe. "Miami Dolphins promote TE Nick O'Leary of Palm Beach to 53-man roster". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "Nick O'Leary". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ Jameis Winston, Nick O'Leary among 4 Florida State players who are finalists for national awards
- ^ Florida State tight end Nick O'Leary will return for his senior season, DT Timmy Jernigan going to NFL
- ^ Nick O'Leary, Rashad Greene set Florida State receiving marks
- ^ "FSU's Nick O'Leary named top tight end". ESPN.com. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "Aguayo, O'Leary, Jackson named consensus all-americans". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "Bills TE Nick O'Leary carving out a role with his bare hands". Bills Wire. September 3, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "Bills acquire champion bloodlines, draft Nick O'Leary". BuffaloBills.com. May 3, 2015.
- ^ "Bills add TE Nick O'Leary to practice squad". BuffaloBills.com. September 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017.
- ^ Dunne, Tyler (December 8, 2015). "Bills make a TE switch: Matthew Mulligan is out, Nick O'Leary is in". BuffaloNews.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills - November 12th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- ^ "Bills make these moves to reach the 53-man roster limit". BuffaloBills.com. September 1, 2018.
- ^ "Dolphins sign former Bills TE Nick O'Leary to its practice squad". Dolphins Wire. USA Today. September 20, 2018.
- ^ "Nick O'Leary Promoted To Active Roster". MiamiDolphins.com. October 5, 2018.
- ^ "Nick O'Leary had a lot of Dolphins firsts Sunday. His famous grandfather saw it all". miamiherald. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (December 1, 2018). "Dolphins extend Nick O'Leary through 2019". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ "Jaguars sign TE Nick O'Leary". Jaguars.com. November 18, 2019.
- ^ Alper, Josh (March 21, 2020). "Nick O'Leary signs with Raiders". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ "Raiders re-sign tight end Paul Butler". Raiders.com. May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Nick O'Leary plans return to football in 2021 after undergoing heart procedure last month". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ Seminoles Tight End's Competitive Drive Recalls His Grandfather Nicklaus
- ^ FSU's Nick O'Leary hopes to step out of famous grandfather Jack Nicklaus' shadow
- ^ "The Nicklaus-Sarasota O'Leary connection". golf.heraldtribune.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.